Chapter 8 - Ficke is as Fickle Does

Over Easter holidays, everyone finally got a break from the happy couple; Tarin went home to visit her family, while Sirius stayed at Hogwarts. The week passed quickly for everyone still at school; the Gryffindor's enjoyed having Sirius back to themselves, if only temporarily. Too soon, though, the other students were returning from their vacations.

Renee, Sirius, and the other Marauders were waiting in the Great Hall for Tarin to find them. Sirius had been excited all day; the couple hadn't spent more than a few hours apart for quite awhile before the holiday.

Tarin finally came in, her eyes clearly scanning the table for her boyfriend. Sirius hadn't seen her yet, but from where Renee was sitting, she could see the exact moment Tarin saw him, her light blue eyes lighting up. She ran over to their table. Coming up behind Sirius, she put her hands over his eyes.

"Guess who?"

Sirius' face broke out in a grin. He jumped out of his seat and kissed her deeply. Breaking for air, he grinned again. "Hey, gorgeous. How was your break?"

Tarin sighed as they both sat down. "Too long, of course."

The grin had yet to leave his face. "I agree completely. A week is far too long to go without seeing you."

And then they were snogging again. The others made awkward conversation around the groping couple until said couple finally broke apart.

Giggling, Tarin stood up. "Hey, handsome, why don't you, er, come help me unpack? I don't think my dormmates are up there."

He, as well as everyone else in the group, quickly saw what she was alluding to. Saying very hasty goodbyes, the two ran off.
"Er, I thought blokes couldn't get in our dormitories?" Renee asked, trying to make conversation in the midst of the now silent table.

James laughed. "As if that would stop Sirius? He figured a way around that years ago."

Renee was curious as to how he'd managed that, but James went on before she could ask. "But that's if they even make it that far, which I highly doubt."

Remus sighed. "Unfortunately, I think James is right. Knowing those two, they're probably holed up in a broom closet right about now."

The group laughed, easily believing it, and they moved on to other topics for the remainder of lunch.

Later that afternoon, Renee was finishing a truly infuriating Potions essay in the library when Tarin found her. "Hey, Nay-Nay, what're you doing?"

Renee out down her quill and stretched. "Not much, just finishing up an essay for Slughorn. More interestingly, what're you doing? How was your reunion with Sirius?" Tarin colored slightly, but went on shamelessly. "Well, let's just say we didn't get a whole lot of unpacking done."

"Gee, what a surprise," Renee said teasingly, "I'd be more surprised if you had gotten any done."

They both laughed. When Tarin didn't say anything else and looked deep in thought, Renee left her to it, starting to revise her essay instead. Soon enough, Tarin spoke up. "Hey, Renee... Does Sirius seem different to you?"

She looked up from her essay. "What do you mean? Different how?"

Tarin fidgeted. "I don't know... He's seemed different ever since I got back. He's acting odd."

"You've only been back a few hours. And in those few hours, you've spent the majority of the time shagging; nothing seems out of the ordinary," Renee said, confused.

"Well, yeah, I guess," Tarin squirmed, "Did anything, you know, happen while I was gone?"
"What do you..." Renee trailed as she realized what Tarin was getting at, "Tarin! Do you think Sirius is cheating on you?"

"Keep your voice down!" Tarin said, anxiously looking around the vacant library, "And, I... He... I just... I don't know!" She looked distraught.

Renee automatically switched into comfort mode. Patting her on the back, she said, "Hey, calm down. I am positive he's not cheating on you. That just isn't possible. Now, tell me how he seems different."

Tarin was clearly struggling not to cry. "I don't know. He seemed distant. After we, you know, did it, he barely talked to me. I mean he's normally quiet after, but this was different."

"Well, that doesn't seem so bad. I mean, that's hardly solid proof."

When Tarin didn't look reassured, Renee went on. "Look, if there is something different then I'm sure he'll tell you sooner or later. There's probably just more home problems or something."

That still didn't seem to be doing much to comfort her. "Hey, Tarin, look at me. I know he's not cheating you. I don't know if you two have officially said it yet, but I know Sirius loves you. He's never been so serious about a girl. He loves you. He would never in a million years cheat on you."

Tarin burst into tears and buried her head in her hands.
"Woah, woah. What's wrong?" Renee asked, having no clue why her best mate was bawling.

"Oh, Nay-Nay, I'm such a horrid person!" Tarin gasped out between sobs.

"Sh, sh, I'm sure whatever happened isn't that bad, shhh. It's all right." Renee comforted her until Tarin had regained her composure enough to speak again.

Wiping her eyes, Tarin finally explained. "Okay, what I'm about to tell you, you have to swear not to tell anyone."

Renee nodded. "Of course."

"Okay... So over break, well maybe I should start at the beginning. Okay, so you know Amos Diggory? Seventh year in my House?"

"Er, yeah. He plays Beater, doesn't he?" Renee said, confused as to why she was bringing him up, "What about him?"

"Well, for a couple weeks before break we'd been talking. Nothing major, just a little flirting. We hang out with the same people, you know? And well, over break... we wrote each other a few times..."

Renee had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach, but didn't try to stop her.

"And one day, well, my parents were out, and I was bored. So I wrote Amos and he came over. We were just hanging out, not really doing much, when... He kissed me."

"What'd you do?" Renee asked with bated breath, hardly daring to wonder.

"Well... I pushed him away... At first. Then he kissed me again and well, I didn't push him away."

Renee froze. "Tarin. What exactly did you guys do?"

Tarin hid her face again. "Well, we just snogged... For awhile. Then we got a little carried away and... We might have shagged."

Renee was beyond outrage. "What the bloody hell, Tarin? How could you do that to Sirius? This is going to break his heart! And then you accused him of cheating? You... You... BITCH! How could you do that to him!"

Tarin was bawling again. "I know! I'm a horrible person. I just... I don't know. Things were going so fast between Amos and I, and I just couldn't remember why I should stop."

"Well, sucks that you couldn't bring yourself to remember your own boyfriend. The guy who's completely in love with you and who thinks you love him, too." Renee said, stone-faced.

Tarin sobbed harder.
"This is going to break his heart..." Renee said softly to herself.

Tarin finally looked up. "No, it's not. Because he's not going to find out. Nobody's going to tell him."

Renee looked at the girl who was her best mate in disgust.

Tarin clutched at her desperately. "Please, Renee, I'm begging you. Please don't tell him. It was a one-time thing. A huge mistake. It will never happen again, I swear."

Renee shook her head and escaped from her grasp. "I wish I could believe you. But I should've seen this coming. You've always been a heart breaker and I just ignored it. Well, not anymore. Sirius is a good person. He deserves to know the truth. And bitch, you better believe me when I say he'll hear it."

She quickly grabbed her stuff and as she was leaving, she looked back at her best mate, sobbing at the table. Her heart softened for a second, before she reminded herself what her 'best mate' had done to Sirius. Then she said icily, "Don't talk to me again. I can't be friends with someone who lies and cheats. Good bye, Tarin."

AN:/ Dang. That was intense, if I do say so myself. I generally don't write arguments because, quite frankly, I'm a pretty passive person and have never been in a serious fight with any of my friends. Looking back, I think this might be a little OOC, but she is fiercely loyal to her friends, which Sirius is now in that definition. However, Tarin has been her best mate for a very long time, so it's a good bet that Renee is feeling rather conflicted. I guess we'll see what happens next chapter ;)

I had originally planned on Sirius finding out in this chapter, but this scene between Tarin and Renee was intense enough that I decided to push it to the next chapter. Or, at least I think so. Maybe it was too intense and unrealistic? Maybe it was a wuss fight? I really have no experience with it, so I can't really say. However, I bet somebody out there can. So, as always, please tell me what you think :)

And really guys, I've gotten so many story alerts and favorites, but I have like 2 reviews. SHARE THE LOVE.

-Nikky